Miho Hatori on Holding On

I met Miho Hatori in New York last spring. She was living in Brooklyn, and I interviewed and photographed her in a park in Park Slope, where she was staying at the time. Miho was the most stylish person I had interviewed, and I felt like a total schlep next to her, especially since I was in the process of falling ill with the grossest cold imaginable, the consequence of too much travel and too little sleep. Ah, deadlines. The circles under my eyes were pretty big during that period!

Anyway, Miho was exceedingly polite, and gave some of the most simple and meaningful answers to my questions. She and I got onto a tangent where we talked about life direction and personal choice. One especially choice tidbit she said was this...

"I am always doing something new, because I always want to learn. I feel there is no end to learning. I don’t ever like to lean too much on my past. I think that life is not all freedom of choice or only fate; it’s something else – maybe a different option completely. Having too many choices can be difficult, yes, but people always need options. How else could we be allowed to become ourselves?
It might sound cheesy, but I feel like I always try to follow my bliss. The passion I have at whatever time, I always feel I find great people and chances, so I don’t want to hold on to the same place. Life would be different if I held on to things."

...

One thing that all the women I spoke with to interview or photograph had in common was this: they did what they wanted, artistically. By extension, this pattern shaped their lives and it's what makes them both interesting and successful. They were not afraid to change. Sometimes they failed, sometimes projects didn't work, sometimes they ended up having to start all over. Then, something else would come along and it'd be ok. Very inspiring.